It is desirable to simplify the teaching of music theory and playing of instruments. The standard system of music notation includes staffs with notes located along lines or between lines. Generally, sharp or flat symbols are required within the staff to indicate the key in which the music is played. Prior art places particular emphasis on, or displays a preoccupation with the white keys or “natural” notes of a keyboard. This reflects a general attitude in the music field that the white keys of a keyboard are more easily comprehended. The naming of the white keys as “natural” is a reflection of this attitude. Consequently, even musicians who use other instruments, such as the guitar, are wary of songs or pieces of music in keys containing several sharps or flats. This wariness is unfounded and unreasonable because, in the case of the guitar, there are no black keys.
This approach may be attributed, to a great extent, to the way in which standard music notation is arranged. On the musical staves, the lines and the accompanying spaces are assigned the “natural” notes or keys. The sharped or flatted notes are not assigned their very own lines or spaces on the staves, but are found in the “natural” notes' positions, along with a “♯” (sharp) or “♭” (flat) symbol. This makes reading music notation tedious and not enjoyable for many. For example, the key of B-major contains five sharps. Therefore, the sight of the key signature of a particular piece of music written in the key of B is daunting to many people. As a result, the black keys (or “sharp” and “flat” notes) are widely regarded as “bad” notes to be avoided, if possible. Therefore, the key of B is utilized less often (especially by beginning students) than the key of C, which has no sharps, although the same rules of music theory apply to both keys (and all others).
Another challenge encountered by music students is that the present approach of using various labeling systems to identify notes is not altogether intuitive. Music theory has been described as “math without numbers.” If, for example, the note commonly referred to as “D” is instead called “1” at all times, the communication of general note relations would be very difficult. Using this example, the specific note, “1” (i.e., “D”), would be the second note of the C-major scale, while being the sixth note of the F-major scale, and the fifth note to G-major, etc.
Because assigning numbers to specific notes is somewhat incompatible with using numbers to outline general note relations, each specific note is instead designated by a letter name. The use of alphabetical symbols accounts for the phrase, “math without numbers,” when describing music theory. However, letters do not generally have mathematical properties. As a result, their use in studying music theory can lead to great confusion for a student.